As many of you know, the therapy work I do with my dogs is very important to me, and to so many other people.

I started this work as a hospice volunteer with Izzy and Lenore. This work changed my life and deepened it.  Red picked it up after Izzy died and Zinnia has been in training for months.

At the edge of life, a dog-like Zinnia is so important to people. I love seeing the look on her face when they see her.

Zinnia’s work at the Mansion and Bishop Maginn High School was interrupted by the pandemic in March and I have missed it, a big hole in my heart.

This work was responsible for my working with the Mansion and Bishop Maginn High School and sparked the creation of the Army of Good.

I still do hospice work, but I decided not to write about it, I like keeping it close.

I think Zinnia misses the therapy work too, she is definitely a working dog who loves people. When I drive by the Mansion to drop something off, Zinnia looks longingly at the Mansion steps, hoping to go in and see her pals.

I know this is a very hard time at the Mansion, they have been in lockdown since March.

Zinnia can brighten their days a bit.

I’ve been working on a plan for Zinnia to return for weeks, and today health officials and Mansion administrators and Mike Tolan, the principal of Bishop Maginn, have all approved it.

Zinnie will start work at the Mansion next week, and at Bishop Maginn a week or two later.

I am not allowed into the Mansion or Bishop Maginn, to protect them and also to protect me. Although some animals have connected the virus, no dog has been known to transmit it, according to the CDC, which has endorsed the selective use of therapy dogs in nursing homes once more.

I have a medical-grade animal disinfectant spray.

I will spray Zinnia head to when we get to the Mansion and when we leave. I’ll drop her off at a pre-arranged time and one of the aides – she has many admirers in there -will meet me and take charge of Zinnia.

They will bring her inside for 30 minutes and also take her to visit the residents and Memory Care Center, where she was a big hit.

My recommendation is that she be brought to the Activities Room.  Residents who wish to see her can gather there, and the door will be closed once everybody gets inside of the room.

No treats or food of any kind, a somewhat doomed rule.

I know everyone in the place will try to sneak her some food, especially if I’m not around. Some of the aides have biscuits hidden in a draw, they think I don’t know.

With Labs especially, the therapy work can’t be about food, it has to be about the people. Red never touched a crumb, he wasn’t interested. Red never did one thing I didn’t want him to do.

I’ll just keep yelling about it. I’ll ask that Zinnia be on a leash every time she’s out of the Activity Room.

I have to have a talk with each aide before turning her over. I have a zero-tolerance rule for therapy dogs. If they cratch or jump on someone, they’re done.

After 30 minutes, I’ll be waiting outside for her to come out. I’m willing to do this four or five times a week if it fits into the Mansion scheduled.

I proposed the same plan to Bishop Maginn.

I’ll drive to Albany at least once a week and drop her off with Sue Silverstein, her godmother, and a fanatic Zinnia lover. She is the reason I got Zinnia micro-chipped, in case she disappears I will know where to look.

I’m thrilled for Zinnia to be doing this work again, I suspect it will all come back to her quickly. I’m sorry not to be with her,  but I am very happy we have found a way to do the work again.

And the residents, many of whom are new, will be thrilled. So we’re back in business. It means so much for people in isolation to see a dog like Zinna, it brings them back to some of the sweetest times of their life.

The dogs were and are my passport into this world. I am so grateful for them.

This is big news in my small world. It makes me feel whole again.